I'll Follow You Into The Dark
by NeonNavy
Summary: Damon drowns his sorrows with the only way he knows, shutting down his emotions and sucking the life out of every hopeless human being he comes near. Elena watches as Damon sinks lower into his levels of self-pity, Will Elena be able to save Damon? -Kat


_I'll Follow You Into The Dark_

_Chapter 1_

Elena smiled, loving the burn and the experience she gets when she runs, as the wind rips through her hair, letting each strand flow as if it were a river of pure chocolate, as she rounded the corner, the song that was playing on her iPod changed, the chords of "I Was Wrong" By Sleeperstar ringing through her mind, she cringed, she had heard this song but couldn't remember where she had listened to it. (A/N: Episode 2x08 when Damon tells Elena he loves her then erases the memory) she quickly changed the song to something more uplifting.

Once she got to her door she pulled the key out of her pocket, she opened the door and ran upstairs not willing to talk to Alaric, she took a shower enjoying the feel of the hot water as it caressed every sore muscle in her lean body.

Stefan opened the window to Elena's bedroom, the door to the bathroom wasn't completely shut, he caught glimpses of his girlfriends body, he didn't like bring up Katherine, but they did look exactly like each other, everything was the same except their personalities were like night and day, different In every way. Stefan heard the water stop and shifted his gaze to the countless photos of Elena's friends and family, he recognized most of them, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt and one of himself and Elena, when he picked up a frame sitting at the edge of her dresser he found himself surprised, a beautiful Elena standing beside a raven-haired boy who had his arm around Elena, Damon and Elena, he growled under his breath little pangs of jealousy surging through his undead body. He placed the photo down and wandered back to the bed.

Elena grabbed her towel as a rush of cold air hit her, shivering she hurried out into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. She turned around, she almost dropped her towel when she saw Stefan casually sprawled across her bed.

"What are you doing here?" Elena asked shocked.

"Seeing my girlfriend, is that a crime?"

"You were supposed to be taking care of your brother."

"He's fine, but I'd rather be talking to you about more important things" Stefan said as Elena turned around and picked out clothes, shuffling back into her cold bathroom.

/:/

Damon signaled to the bartender to bring him another round, he couldn't remember what he was drinking, but whatever it was it wasn't doing the trick for him. He downed his last drink and headed out of the Grill leaving a hefty tip for the busty bartender.

As he was walking back to the boarding house he stumbled across a brunette who's neck was pulsing with warmth and promise for feeling satisfied, without giving her a chance to object he used his vampire strength to bring her into a nearby alley and within that second he sunk his teeth into her, sucking every drop of blood from her body, she went limp in his arms.

After disposing of the girl he walked away from the Quarry he was filled with guilt, he always meant to flip the switch but he never had the guts to do it, hoping that Elena may one day changed her mind, he arrived at the boarding house slamming the door behind him and heading to the washroom for a much needed bath.

/:/

"Stefan, can we go check on your brother please? I don't want him to feel like no one cares about him, please, and I swear if one more body gets found and its his fault we are locking him in the cellar, Stefan? Are you listening? Stefan?" Elena said as she noticed that Stefan wasn't listening to her, he was merely reading a Teen Vogue, which, on its cover advertised 'Ways to get guys to like you'.

"Do these actually work?" Stefan asked completely changing the subject.

"Stefan? Your brother needs help, if you don't want to talk about it then I guess I'll just have to help him myself, and no it doesn't work, because if it did you would be listening to me now." Elena said as she stormed out of the room, grabbing her car keys and driving over to the boarding house.

Once she got there, she took her key out of the ignition and rang the door bell to the boarding house, a smirking Stefan opened the door.

"Stefan let me in, I need to help your brother." Elena said as she tried to push past Stefan to get into the house, on her fourth try she managed to wrangle out of his grasp and walk into the house, immediately she saw shards of glass all over the floor mirroring the flickering fire located in the fireplace. Each one looking a bit sharper than the next piece, she walked past the living room into the dining room where she noticed blood splotches staining the cream carpet, they were a bit faded, obviously someone had tried to wash them out without much success. Elena was horrified at what she saw; clearly Damon needed more help than she thought.

Someone behind her cleared his or her throat, she turned around.

"What made Damon do this?" Elena said, concern strong in her voice.

Stefan answered "I don't know, he came back one night after Rose had died and it was like he had flipped the switch, he spent night and day in the bar and one day I came home and found fresh blood all over the carpet, we had no blood bags so he must've brought someone home and fed. I tried to clean the stains, it didn't really work, Elena, I've known him my whole life and once you start caring about him he does something and its back to this, I've learned not to care or try to help."

Elena stood there, completely shocked. Footsteps echoed off the wood panels on the wall, Damon came down into the living room looking dreadful, dark circles hung low on his eyes, his hair was out of place and once he came within five meters of you, alcohol clouded the air. As soon as his eyes met Elena's you could see a little flicker of happiness come and go.

"Damon, Hi" Elena said, breaking the silence. Damon stood there in silence and finally muttered a few words, from what Elena could hear he said "enough of this crap, I need alcohol" and with that he turned and left the boarding house, Elena was worried about him, she ran outside hoping to talk to Damon before he went to drown his sorrows once more.

Just as she was about to get into her car to go search for him, something held her back, strong arms looped around her waist restraining her, inside the deep forest Damon had a clear view of Elena with Stefan's arms around her, even in his worst she didn't give him a second thought, he couldn't stand his brother and seeing him with Elena, but he knew that his love was selfish, and that he didn't deserve her, that's what started his downward spiral in the first place.

Without taking a second look at his brother and Elena he ran off into town to feast on another girl, drowning his lust and guilt with blood, hoping it would suffice.

Stefan tightened his grip on Elena as she struggled harder.

"Stefan, Let go. Now!" Elena said, begging him to release her.

"No Elena, he's not worth your time, he'll just relapse" Stefan said, growling this time.

"Stefan let go. Stop it, you should be more concerned with your brother. He's sad because of Rose, I assume she was the only person who could understand him, you selfish bastard. I wish it was you that was messed up and not him. Can't you see he's hurting? You know what Stefan, its over. Don't talk to me, don't even come near me. And for the love of god just let me go!" Elena said, tears flowing down her face, marring the perfect image that was once calm.

With that Stefan let go, Elena ran to her car, sobbing now. Stefan froze in his place, almost as if he were a statue, Elena paused, looking at him, and sped away in her car, hoping to never have anything to do with Stefan again.

**-/-/-**

**What do you think? It gets better I promise, this chapter almost killed me to write, even though I am a total Delena fan (ftw) it was hard to write the break up of Stelena, anyway, I hope you liked it :^) Reviews are love, **

**Xoxo**

**Kat**


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